Good evening,
Though it will be some years before I enter the classroom as a civilian teacher, I took a lot from this course- and yes, it was challenging. The lessons I learned from this course are several, but I’ll narrow it down to three.
The first lesson I learned is that I will have to rely on professional organizations, since at 25-30 years of service before entering a classroom, I may be nearing fifty or past fifty; I may have some advantages- however, I will be behind some of my civilian coworkers. As Parham and Gordon, 2016 state, that expectations in the military are clearly defined, where in the civilian education world, there are a lot of hidden norms that cause veterans who become teachers to suffer in their first year. This is where I think resources from professional organizations will be able to help.
The second lesson I learned is where as a military instructor, differentiation is not allowed, and we follow the instructor guide, so we do use assistive technology, but it’s applied to the class as a whole, not to students in need. From Zilz and Pang, 2019, the studies show that teachers need to better prepared to use assistive technology in the room, and with what I am dealing with my son, that will give me the experience needed to differentiate and better use assistive technologies with students in need.
In conclusion, I have learned many lessons, but these two lessons were the greatest of all. I have had a pleasure working with all of you, and I pray for the best in all future endeavours.
References:
Parham, J. N., & Gordon, S. F. (2024, May 3). Military veterans bring many positives – and some needs – into teaching . Kappan Online. https://kappanonline.org/parham-gordon-military-veterans-teaching/
Zilz, W., & Pang, Y. (2019). Application of assistive technology in Inclusive Classrooms. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 16(7), 684–686. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2019.1695963
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